Review|Ristra’s

Finally was able to try Ristra’s I had come early because I got a table for our group and I was starving.

I ordered the Burrito / Nachos / Sugarcane Lemonade.

It was made in-front of me:

Burrito: I had the 3 kinds of  meat toppings placed plus everything except sour cream.

The result was great. I then made it swim in white garlic sauce and their hot sauce.

My side of Nachos I got with cheese dip which is like warm cheezwiz (nothing special here)

The Sugarcane Lemonade was sort of weird for me. I did not enjoy this one.

Here is my meal sans the Lemonade total 705PHP

Pricing was a bit steep but the quality of ingredients was ok. Ordering and service could be better. I mean the lady on the cashier would not write down my order which was complete already until she served pending orders from previous customers (who were paid already BTW). I look forward to trying other dishes from Ristra’s.

I think it has great MEXIFILI cuisine (I wouldn’t call it really Mexican food) since the flavours have been adjusted to the Filipino palate. Yes the food is pricy but the serving size is huge and it’s good. I don’t mind paying for quality and you shouldn’t too.

3rd Time’s the Charm

Today I finished talking with palm support and trooped to Makati to get my palm Treo Pro replaced AGAIN! This my 3rd Treo Pro… this is getting ridiculous… What the hell!? The keypad frame was falling off on the refurb unit I got. BTW I haven’t dropped my device yet.

[here are some pics of the faulty device]

When I got there the guy gave me my replacement unit I inspected the keys and found out the start button was stuck so I asked for another unit. Thankfully this one had better keys.

Hard reset my defective TP, took out the SIM, microSD, stylus, battery and back cover. I then installed those to the new one and powered it up. The guy at the drop off zone moved the screen protector for me too.

I setup google sync so I had my contacts/calendar until I got back to the office. Finished signing stuff and I was off.

My 1st device’s d-pad failed after six months the 1st refurbed units keyboard frame failed in 2 weeks. I hope this device lasts longer… I really don’t have the moohlah to splurge on a new device (unless somebody finally buys my HTC Touch3G).

I like palm’s devices and customer service and even their replacement policy I just wish the device was sturdier. You should get back to htc on these issues. BTW the Treo 750 (I owned 2) I didn’t have any issues also htc made if I may add.

Since I am having a bad tech week I decided to cheer myself up by looking at my friend’s kid. Here is her picture for all you out there stressing (makes me laugh all the time and beats saying woosah or counting to 10)

hehe such a funny baby… stress be gone!

Nokia’s N97 Not So Smartphone… Actually It’s Retarded

I was at the Nokia store while I was waiting for my Treo Pro to get replaced. Of course I went straight to the dummy models (they don’t display live phones anymore; fear of stealing I guess). I was playing with the N97’s slider and tilt system. Looks really sturdy, however it seems that it goes tilt only; you can’t just slide it up.

The guy noticed I had to smartphones so he smelled a potential sale. He comes up to me and starts spouting specs like an frakin’ sub-machinegun. He knows his product great training Nokia. So WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, 5MP, wow… pretty impressive ey… touch screen ooooooh…

Finally I got tired of playing with the slider and asked him the most important question.

Does this phone recognize similar numbers?

At this moment the guy already new that he has lost this sale. It is not your fault well groomed, well trained but of questionable sexual orientation sales dude/tte it’s the product’s fault.

You see folks in the year 2009 Symbian Series 60 Feature Pack whatever… STILL CANNOT RECOGNIZE SIMILAR NUMBERS. Don’t believe me? I tried this for myself using a loaner Nokia E51 (test was done with no other contacts). Which was a perfectly good phone except for this glitch.

Make a contact

Name = Test

Mobile = 0917+your number

Mobile2 =  0922+your number

send yourself an SMS and sit back and be amazed how a smartphone can be so dumb. Yes ladies and gents: the phone get’s confused that easily… I am unsure if their S40 devices have the same issues (can someone test? and comment back?) Shouldn’t this be just a simple software fix? Seriously Nokia before you add a gajillion Gb of memory and 25 megabillion pixels, a diaper changing station and solar panels to your phone it might be a good idea to fix the frakin’ software first. Nokia call quality and hardware have been beyond reproach but the software needs to be improved a lot.

I will never consider S60 as a smartphone OS until they fix this problem.

RIP: Michael Jackson

The King of Pop is dead…

One of the best singer/songwriters of our time has passed away. My earliest Michael Jackson memory was being scared yet amazed at his Thriller video, I got a red jacket for some holiday (probably Christmas) and had a phase where I kept on trying to dance to ‘Thriller’

Trivia: Heal the World was the song used as our graduation (grade 7)

Over the years though Michael Jackson has become a bit controversial and eccentric to say the least but we will not sully the memory of the King with these. He is and forever will be one of the best entertainers in the world.

Thank you for the music.

My 12000th Tweet

Fortunately it's not about picking my nose or some other gross thing!

http://twitter.com/bnycastro

Resolution to my battle w/ SMART’s IR DEPOSIT BS… #BNYvsSMART

A few days ago I had written to SMART telecom’s president Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan about their new International Roaming Deposit policy. You may read it HERE.

Today I went to the SMART Wireless Center where I had my plan changed. I explained [although I must admit not in the calmest way] why the whole thing was

#1 offensive

#2 unfair

#3 bad for business

#4 their fault

the service rep promised that she would elevate the matter and true enough I received a call moments ago from a SMART representative. That’s 3 hours turn around… raising hell and my blood pressure at the wireless center works wonders for response time.

Resolution:

Of course the lady on the line apologized profusely for any inconvenience that beset me.

Ok apology accepted.

They also activated my international roaming and waived the ridiculous deposit.

Ok very good. Thank you SMART.

She was about to let me go but I would not have it. I pressed her to let me know what they were going to do about the IR deposit. She said that they valued my insight and that they will show my email and concerns to management. I pressed her some more and asked her how I would find out what they do with the policy. I got the canned response: we have ways to disseminate the information to subscribers.

EHHHH wrong answer! I will surely follow this up. I won’t stand for such behavior from a service I am paying for.

Now here’s the thing to get noticed everyone affected or that may be affected by this issue should definitely call and write SMART so that we the consumers will be heard. If you have time please drop by the nearest wireless center and sound off as well.

SMART CS HOTLINE: *888 or 63(02) 8881111

SMART CS EMAIL: customercare@smart.com.ph

PSA: Vanity Facebook URL

If you still don’t have yours get it now at: http://facebook.com/username

Keep in mind the URL you choose is permanent choose wisely…

http://facebook.com/bnycastro

Timberland Father's Day Promotion!!!

RT @gibishoes: [Timberland] From 6/19 - 6/21: Buy 2 items & get 50 off on the cheaper item. More info: http://tinyurl.com/halfyfathersday

http://twitter.com/bnycastro/status/2216523268

Sent from my Palm® Treo™ smartphone.

What I Want In My Next Device...

Ok 1st off I want a smartphone better if it is qwerty bar. Less moving parts means less chances of breaking something

OS: Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro or Google's Android

Display: res should be 480x640 or higher

Bands: Quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE Triband UMTS w/ HSDPA

Camera: 3.2MP w/ auto-focus & flash

Input: Resistive or Capacitive Touchscreen and QWERTY with real alt + ctrl + shift + tab keys! And a nice dpad or trackball.

Expansion: microSDHC

Output: Dual speakers, 3.5mm jack

Sync: mini or microUSB

Batt: 1500mAh minimum

Processor: 500mhz minimum

WiFi and BT required, IR optional

Any manufacturer who comes up with this device then I will buy from you.

Sent from my Palm® Treo™ smartphone.

16-Jun-09 #trancetuesday #ringtones #fb

16-Jun-09 Trance Tuesday
--
Paul van Dyk - Home - Paul van Dyk Club Mix
U2 - Elevation - Vandit Club Mix
--
Today's tones...
#trancetuesday

My Letter to SMART Telecom’s President…

Here is my letter to Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan president of SMART Telecommunications Inc.

I also sent a copy to their customer service address just in case the email address I was provided with was not real. I am hoping he reads it and responds to it.

subj: SMART TELECOM INT'L ROAMING DEPOSIT IS DISCRIMINATORY, UNFAIR, and WRONG

Mr. Manny Pangilinan

Dear Sir

I am SMART subscriber in good standing. I pay all my bills on time.

A month or so ago I decided to lower my plan from 1200 to 500. I did this because I had noticed that I was not hitting 1200. As I was getting this done I asked the service rep to make sure that international roaming and data services would still be active. She said it would.

Now early this month I went on a business trip to China. To my surprise my roaming had been turned off.

Upon my return to the PH I gave the SMART hotline a ring. I was surprised to find out that my roaming had been cut because my plan is bellow 1800PHP. I asked that my roaming be activated again and she said I had to give a deposit of 2500PHP to have it activated. This 2500 is not consumable and will not be used to pay my bill or roaming charges. I asked her how I would get the 2500 back and she informed me that I could get it back only when I turn off roaming. I asked her what if I wanted to keep roaming ON indefinitely and she was lost for an answer. I think this new policy is wrong, discriminatory and bad for your business.

1. ROAMING MEANS REVENUE. The more people that roam the more revenue you get. Why then are you making it difficult for people to roam?

2. WHY ASK FOR A DEPOSIT WHEN YOU HAVE A CREDIT LIMIT? When a subscriber exceeds the credit limit he is cut off what then is the deposit for?

3. WHY ARE YOU DISCRIMINATING AGAINST LOWER TIER PLANS? It would not be as bad if all plans had this deposit policy but requiring only the lower tier plans to deposit before roaming is discriminatory.

Frankly sir I find this policy both insulting and discriminatory. It shows a huge amount of distrust towards us the paying consumer. I hope you will take the time to review this policy and make it fair for us your loyal paying customers. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely

Vincent Benedict P. Castro

SMART Subscriber

What do you think about this deposit policy for international roaming on lower tier plans? Sound of in the comments section.

ANYONE FROM SMART READING THIS YOU MAY REACH ME BY DROPPING A COMMENT OR VIA EMAIL bnycastro(at)gmail(dot)com

Bato bato sa langit ang tamaan wag magalit ;)

excerpt from: I Am What I Am by OceanLab

I know you feel you need to prove that you are good in simply everything that you try to do and people hang on your every word, that you deliver with conviction, though they just may be absurd.

excerpt from: Breaking Ties by OceanLab

I may return to empty places on my own where I remember all the things you want me to forget

and

You and I, truth and lies. I’ve been fooling myself too long. You and I, breaking ties. How could we be so right and so wrong?

these definitely made me smirk. Nice job OceanLab :P

2009 Philippine Toy Con

[Amazing Joker Costume]

Last Saturday me and some friends went to SM MEGAMALL to take a look at the 2009 ToyCon. Lot’s of toys and lot’s of folks in costume! :D

Posted some pics on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bnycastro/tags/toycon0609/

I got myself some LEGO magnets and a concept Fett by Ralph McQuarrie [it was his 80th birthday on June 13].

[Happy Birthday Ralph. Thank you for your vision…]

I was thinking of conscripting to the Philippine Outpost but I don’t have a costume yet. I had thought they would help you make one but it looks like you need a costume before joining.

[501st troopers from the Philippine Outpost]

Had a lot of fun for my 1st toy convention. Will definitely be back next year.

2 more trance tones I made… TinT <(@.@)>

Trust in Trance
--
OceanLab - Beautiful Together - Signum Remix
OceanLab - Sky Falls Down - Armin van Buuren Mix
--
128Kbps 28sec Stereo MP3
--
@bnycastro

10-Jun-09 #tod_Wednesday #house #ringtone up on @mobile9dotcom.

10-Jun-09 Wednesday
--

The Killers - Human - Armin van Buuren Mix
The Killers - Human - Ferry Corsten Mix
--
Are we human or are we dancers?
#house, #tod_wednesday, #ringtones

Review|Sirens of the Sea Remixed

Category: Music
Genre: Dance/DJ
Artists: Above & Beyond pts. Oceanlab ft. Justine Suissa

Released June 08, 2009 this 2 disc album is a vocal trance and progressive overload! If you listened to the original Sirens of the Sea album you’ll be amazed on how well these remixes are made! As I mentioned in my review of the original album; the tracks would really shine when they are remixed. True enough today’s best and brightest DJs/Producers/Remixers have leant their talents to make an AWESOME album. This is a must have release remember TinT… Trust in Trance!

You can listen to sample tracks and get your copy from http://www.cdjshop.com

SMART International Roaming Deposit AKA RIPOFF

I had recently changed my service plan from 1200 to 500 [last April] because I had a SUN 350 line and I wanted to lower my monthly expenses. When I was getting this done I expressly asked the service rep about roaming. Fact of the matter is I was only keeping SMART because SUN had weak to zero coverage outside Metro Manila and because I assumed SMART [being bigger and older] had more roaming partners over SUN. When I went on my 4 day trip to China last week, roaming was not working. Good thing I had brought my SUN SIM card which did roam successfully take note my SUN plan is only 350/month. That is even lower than my SMART plan. So I decided to call SMART and have roaming activated on my SIM. I was surprised when the rep on the phone said that activating roaming now required a 2500PhP roaming deposit and that this deposit can only be credited to your account as bills payment when you decide to deactivate roaming. I asked if this deposit would be used if I roamed and she said no. I argued that I wanted roaming all the time and had no intention of deactivating it in the future and all she could do was say sorry for the inconvenience and that this was the new company policy. So in effect I would be forking over 2500PhP and I would never get it back. What really irks me is that I always pay my bills on time and in full amount no matter how much it is.

I feel this shows a great deal of distrust from the carrier to the user.

I don’t want to increase my monthly plan up to 1800PhP again [I had started at this plan 2 years ago] so it’s either I rely on SUN for roaming or give 2500PhP to SMART. I think I will check SUN’s roaming partners list and I will also check Globe’s roaming policy might be time to switch carriers again… SMART’s services have been deteriorating and treating their customers this way just doesn’t sit well with me.

28th International Footwear Conference Guangzhou China #ifc28 #slgz09

Here in Guangzhou, China. For the 28th International Footwear Conference and the Shoes & Leather Guangzhou 2009.

I am here as a proxy for my father with my mom and 1 of our purchasers. My uncle is the Philippine representative for the conference. AFAIK there is a Shoes & Leather exhibit that parallels this conference.

US: the economy is bad but footwear is holding up relatively well vs other industries. People are still buying shoes.

EU: manufacturing/importing are down. Consumption of shoes is not dropping significantly. Imports are down because stocks are being sold off.

28th International Footwear Conference Guangzhou China #ifc28 #slgz09

Here in Guangzhou, China. For the 28th International Footwear Conference and the Shoes & Leather Guangzhou 2009.

I am here as a proxy for my father with my mom and 1 of our purchasers. My uncle is the Philippine representative for the conference. AFAIK there is a Shoes & Leather exhibit that parallels this conference.

US: the economy is bad but footwear is holding up relatively well vs other industries. People are still buying shoes.

EU: manufacturing/importing are down. Consumption of shoes is not dropping significantly. Imports are down because stocks are being sold off.